On 20 February, I announced “arts everywhere”—a package of funding for our cultural sector of over £270 million.
This Government believe that while talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. As part of our plan for change, I am committed to ensuring that arts and culture thrive in every part of the country, with more opportunities for more people to engage, benefit from and work in arts and culture where they live.
Much of this funding will invest in fit-for-purpose cultural infrastructure, so cultural organisations can keep on doing what they do best—providing the public with breathtaking performances, showcasing the best collections and connecting communities to their rich history. The funding I have announced will also preserve increased access to arts and cultural activities for children and young people. This will help ensure that all children and young people, no matter their background, can have a stake in their culture, heritage and creativity and, where there is passion to do so, go on to rewarding creative careers.
I have also set out how, as part of the Government’s plan for change, this investment will help kick-start economic growth across the country by improving our cultural offer and attracting tourism to the UK, creating more jobs and opportunities. Together, through investment and reform, we will ensure that our incredible arts and culture sectors continue to thrive for future generations.
The package of funding for 2025-26 I have announced includes:
A new £85 million creative foundations fund, funding urgent capital works to help keep venues across the country up and running;
A fifth round of the popular museum estate and development fund worth £25 million, which will support museums across the country to undertake vital infrastructure projects, and tackle urgent maintenance backlogs;
A fourth round of the libraries improvement fund worth £5.5 million, which will enable public library services across England to upgrade buildings and technology to better respond to changing user needs;
A new £20 million museum renewal fund to invest in cherished local, civic museums, supporting them to expand access to their collections and programmes, to continue serving as trusted custodians of our heritage, sparking national creativity and imagination;
An additional £15 million for heritage at risk, which will provide grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need with funding weighted towards applications from the most deprived areas;
A new £4.85 million heritage revival fund to transform local heritage buildings. Funding will empower local people to take control of the heritage they love. It will support community organisations to bring neglected heritage buildings back into good use;
Confirmation of the continuation of the £120 million public bodies infrastructure fund to ensure national cultural public bodies are able to address essential works to their estates;
A 5% increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries to support their financial resilience and to support them in providing access to the national collection;
Confirmation that DCMS will be contributing funding to four cultural education programmes for the next financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people. These will be the museums and schools programme, the heritage schools programme, art and design national Saturday clubs and the BFI Film Academy;
Confirmation of the recipients of the fourth round of the museum estate and development fund, which will see 29 local museums up and down the country receiving a share of almost £25 million to upgrade their buildings.
Alongside this investment, I have confirmed the panel of experts who will be supporting Baroness Margaret Hodge with her independent review of Arts Council England, as well as the scope of the review within the newly agreed terms of reference. The terms of reference and panel of experts can be found on gov.uk.
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the first arts White Paper—“A Policy for the Arts: The First Steps”—published by Jennie Lee, the country’s first Minister for the Arts (1964-70). Her vision for accessibility in the arts is one I am proud to share. Our world-leading arts and culture sectors are an essential part of who we are as a country. They have enormous growth potential to drive our economy forward and through reform and investment we are bulldozing the barriers to growth and unlocking opportunity for all.
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